1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically connecting a third party with one of two parties engaged in a telephone call, and temporarily or permanently disconnecting the other party.
2. Description of Related Art
The delivery of stored information in the form of training tape programs, recorded instructions, 1-900 service, voice-mail, etc., is becoming increasingly popular. Users may be required to spend several minutes or hours listening to this stored information during any given session. However, while listening to the stored information, the users cannot automatically receive important calls without terminating or interrupting the information service.
In addition, if a first party is connected to a second party and engaged in conversation, for example, a third party may attempt to contact the first party and be handled in a call waiting system. However, in a call waiting system, the first party places the second party on hold, talks to the third party, places the third party on hold, talks to the second party to finish that call, then goes back to the third party to begin the desired conversation. This process can be burdensome if the third party is an important caller.
An automatic barge-in device automatically interrupts a subscriber""s stored information service or telephone call and connects the subscriber with another telephone call. The automatic barge-in device operates such that when a first party is talking to a second party, a third party may be automatically connected to the first party and the second party given an option to hold, leave a voice mail message, etc.
In addition, when a first party is connected to a stored information service, a third party may be automatically connected to the first party and a bookmark is set in the stored information. If the call between the first party and the third party does not exceed a predetermined time limit, the first party may resume the stored information service from the location of the bookmark.